Nitrogen deposition is the most important environmental driver of growth of pure, even-aged and managed European forests
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2020
Changing environmental conditions may substantially interact with site quality and forest stand characteristics, and impact forest growth and carbon sequestration. Understanding the impact of the various drivers of forest growth is therefore critical to predict how forest ecosystems can respond to climate change. We conducted a continental-scale analysis of recent (1995–2010) forest volume increment data (ΔVol, m3 ha−1 yr−1), obtained from ca. 100,000 coniferous and broadleaved trees in 442 even-aged, single-species stands across 23 European countries. We used multivariate statistical approaches, such as mixed effects models and structural equation modelling to investigate how European forest growth respond to changes in 11 predictors, including stand characteristics, climate conditions, air and site quality, as well as their interactions. We found that, despite the large environmental gradients encompassed by the forests examined, stand density and age were key drivers of forest growth. We further detected a positive, in some cases non-linear effect of N deposition, most pronounced for beech forests, with a tipping point at ca. 30 kg N ha−1 yr−1. With the exception of a consistent temperature signal on Norway spruce, climate-related predictors and ground-level ozone showed much less generalized relationships with ΔVol. Our results show that, together with the driving forces exerted by stand density and age, N deposition is at least as important as climate to modulate forest growth at continental scale in Europe, with a potential negative effect at sites with high N deposition.
Observational study
Air pollution
Ozone
Climate change
ICP Forests
Statistical modelling
Forest management
Författare
Sophia Etzold
Eidgenossische Forschungsanstalt fur Wald, Schnee Und Landschaft Eth-Bereichs
Marco Ferretti
Eidgenossische Forschungsanstalt fur Wald, Schnee Und Landschaft Eth-Bereichs
G. J. Reinds
Wageningen University and Research
Svein Solberg
Norsk institutt for bioøkonomi (NIBIO)
Arthur Gessler
Eidgenossische Forschungsanstalt fur Wald, Schnee Und Landschaft Eth-Bereichs
Peter Waldner
Eidgenossische Forschungsanstalt fur Wald, Schnee Und Landschaft Eth-Bereichs
Marcus Schaub
Eidgenossische Forschungsanstalt fur Wald, Schnee Und Landschaft Eth-Bereichs
David Simpson
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Mikrovågs- och optisk fjärranalys
Meteorologisk institutt
Sue Benham
Forest Research (UK)
Karin Hansen
Naturvårdsverket
IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet
Morten Ingerslev
Köpenhamns universitet
Mathieu Jonard
Universite catholique de Louvain
Per Erik Karlsson
IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet
Antti Jussi Lindroos
Naturresursinstitutet (Luke)
Aldo Marchetto
Consiglo Nazionale Delle Richerche
Miklos Manninger
Forest Research Institute
Henning Meesenburg
Northwest German Forest Research Institute (NW-FVA)
P Merilä
Naturresursinstitutet (Luke)
Pekka Nöjd
Naturresursinstitutet (Luke)
Pasi Rautio
Naturresursinstitutet (Luke)
Tanja G.M. Sanders
Thünen Institute of Forest Ecosystems
Walter Seidling
Thünen Institute of Forest Ecosystems
Mitja Skudnik
Slovenian Forestry Institute
Anne Thimonier
Eidgenossische Forschungsanstalt fur Wald, Schnee Und Landschaft Eth-Bereichs
Arne Verstraeten
Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Brussels
Lars Vesterdal
Köpenhamns universitet
Monika Vejpustkova
Forestry and Game Management Research Institute
W. de Vries
Wageningen University and Research
Forest Ecology and Management
0378-1127 (ISSN)
Vol. 458 117762Ämneskategorier
Skogsvetenskap
Naturgeografi
Klimatforskning
DOI
10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117762